Improved spittoon for railroad-cars



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcEn J. H. SEYMOUR, OF HAGERSTOVN, MARYLAND.

i IIVIPROVED SPITTOON FOR RAILROAD-CARS.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 59,280, dated October 30,1866.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J. H. SEYMOUR, of Hagerstown, in the county ofWashington and State of Maryland, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Spittoons for use in Railroad-Cars and other Vehicles, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of thisspecification, and in which- Figure l represents a plan of my improvedspittoon with its lid closed, also showing in red lines the lid open 5Fig. 2, a vertical section of the same as arranged in a car floor orbottom, and showing, by black and red lines, the lid, valve, andconnecting devices in open and closed conditions of the spittoon.

Like letters refer to like parts in both tigures.

The nature of my invention consists in a novel construction ofstationary spittoons designed to be applied to the floors ofrailroadcars and other vehicles, each spittoon being provided with a lidor cover and dischargingvalve, and made capable of easy operation by thefoot or hand in such a manner as that when its lid commences to open,and while opening andremaining open, the valve of the spittoon is closed5 but when the lid is closed the valve is open to permit of the escapeof the saliva and other substances thrown into it, and so tha-t theadmission of drafts of air is prevented in both the open and closedconditions of the spittoon-lid, and the parts so constructed andarranged as to give the requisite facility for cleaning the spittoon.

To enable others skilled in such matters to make and use my improvement,I will now proceed to describe it with reference to the drawings.

A is the body of the spittoon, which may be of taper or bowl shape, witha supportingflange at top that may be let in ush with the upper surfaceof the car-floor, and with a straight or other shaped neck at itsbottom. B is a sliding lid pivoted by a vertical pin, a, to the liangeof the spittoon at its top, and so that when pushed or pressed openhorizontally it may occupy the position shown for it by red lines inFigs. l and 2. It may have a knob projection, b, fitting, when the lidis closed, into a catch or stop, c.

C is the valve at the bottom of the spittoon, opening outward. Thisvalve is hinged at its rear by an arm, d, to a projection, c, on oneside of the neck or bottom of the spittoon. To the outer end of this arml is jointed a rod, f, that, inclining upward, projects, when the lid isclosed, through a slot, g, where it presents or forms a bevel or slopingfoot, h, above the plane of travel of the under side or inner face ofthe lid B. The valve is made to overbalance the arm d and rodf, so thatwhen not closed by the opening of the lid it remains open. It is or maybe checked, however, to prevent its opening too far, by the rod fstriking a projection, fi, on the body of the spittoon 5 or thevalve-arm may be provided with a lug to effect the saine object.

. From this description it will be apparent that on opening the lid B toits" position shown in red lines, almost as soon as it oommences toopen, and before the body of the spittoon is exposed for use, the valveC is closed bythe inner face ot' the lid B sliding over and graduallybut speedily forcing inward and down the foot h, which depresses the rodf, that, acting ou the arm d, closes the valve, the further movement ofthe lid in opening keeping down the foot h and retaining the valve shut.Asimilar but reverse action takes place in closing the lid B by its not,till nearly A closing, releasing the foot h, to Work backward andupward, and with it the rod f, to open the valve C by the weight of thelatter.

This construction and arrangement of the parts, it will be seen, differsfrom that described in Letters Patent No. 54,613 of the United States,granted to me, in which the opening of the valve for discharge of thesaliva and other substances was not controlled by the lid, and in which,when the spittoon-lid was permitted to remain open, the valve allowed ofa draft of cold air to enter the car each time it discharged the matterejected into the spittoon, only the closing of the lidI securing againstthis.

In the present improvement, however, the valve is not only closedautomatically as the lid commences to open, but is kept closed till thelid is nearly shut, thus restraining the ingress of cold air or dust,the partially or fully open condition of the lid keeping the valveclosed irrespective of the amount of matter thrown from time to timeinto it, and

Awhen the lid is shut the valve remaining open to drain or clear thespitton of saliva or other substances, every facility, however, foradditionally cleaning it being afforded by the arrangement of the valveand its rod, acting independently though under the control of the lid.

The valve being kept shut in a positive manner when the lid is open,money or other valuables accidentally dropped into the spittoon will notpass out till the lid be closed, and so may be recovered, which was notthe casein the spittoon of previous construction and patented to me, asherein referred to.

It is immaterial in this my Vimprovement whether thelid B of thespittoon be swung horizontally, as shown in the drawings, or, ly-

ing at its top iush with the Hoor, lift or throw back vertically to (asit falls suddenly or quickly backward) close the valve C by pressing onand inward the shoe l1l of the rodf, that is connected with and closesthevalve-pendant of its own weight.

What I claim as new and useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

The arrangement, in combination, substantially as herein described, ofthe bowl A, lid or cover B, with the valve C and rod j', when operatedautomatically by the opening ot the lid, essentially as and for thepurpose or purposes herein set forth.

J H. SEYMOUR. Witnesses:

F. J. PosnY, E. M. Posn Y.

